Brandon Leake’s passion for writing all started with a game of Dragon Ball Z. As a young boy, Leake didn’t know of anywhere to purchase the board game, so he frequently rented it from the Maya Angelou Branch Library in southside Stockton. He traced the characters on sheets of paper. From there, he began writing stories about them. That was his first soiree with writing. And his passion for poetry followed soon after. “Poetry started when I realized I couldn’t sing,” Leake said. “I always wanted to be an R&B singer and God knew not to give me that gift. " Leake was in middle school when he began writing what he calls "sappy love poems. " But his real art began after the passing of his best friend Bernard Daniels. The two were students at Commodore Stockton Skills School and had been best friends since kindergarten. Daniels died during their freshmen year of high school. “He was a rapper,” Leake said. “I feel like in an odd way, his gift was passed to me, and I got a chance to honor him with these words. ” Years later, Leake has taken to the big stage at America’s Got Talent to perform his art. Not only did he impress the celebrity judges enough to receive the golden buzzer that took him straight to the final competition, but went on to be chosen as the winner. Thus, becoming the first-ever spoken word artist to compete in and win the show in 2020 . This year, he received a second once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when he was invited back to compete in the AGT All-Stars competition. Although he did not move into the next round of the competition, Leake is confident that plenty of opportunities await him back home. In 2020, Leake won many hearts on the show with a poem about his baby sister who passed away. The bad part for him, he says, is that the show was taped in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he never got his chance to perform for such a large audience. But he remained determined to make this All-Stars competition a memorable one. Although he always writes from the heart, this year he was ready with a twist in his new material. Leake is taking his experiences from after the show, and combining them with themes of socio-economic issues, and faith. “Some of the issues we had long before the pandemic are the ones that are continuing to persist after the pandemic,” Leake said. “Socio-economic status, redlining, how we live in a segregated society despite the fact that it’s not segregated. ” Leake said the past few years have shown him the importance of spreading light, love and the word of God during the good times and bad times. James Binder is one of Leake’s lifelong friends and has watched Leake in his performances throughout the years. Binder said he felt a sense of pride knowing how far his friend has come and that when it comes to his potential, the sky is the limit. “I knew him from being a fierce competitor then and he went on to show us how fierce of a competitor he really is,” Binder said. On a cold and foggy January afternoon, parents, children and even unhoused residents lined up for a free food distribution at Stockton’s McKinley Park. The food drive was held by local activists and members of PETA, which has newly expanded its organization to the city. The people smiled as they were handed their produce bags and warm vegan burritos by volunteers. Little do most know that among them was Brandon. He’s frequently seen helping around the community, not just to feed some bellies, but also to feed some minds. In the years after winning season 15 of AGT, Leake worked with Stockton schools to help students learn about writing and the art of poetry. This, Leake says, has been one of the most fulfilling rewards of all. “I get the chance to do far more things,” Leake said. “I’m working with the Lincoln Unified School District. We’re publishing their youth this year, about 7,000 students in total. ” But it does not stop there. Leake has vowed to continue using his platform to serve and improve the community, to make it safer, and to make opportunities more accessible for all, particularly disadvantaged youth. “There’s the old Spider-Man saying, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’ and I’ve been gifted a great gift, not just with my spoken word but with what I was able to win with it,” Leake said. “I was told early on to steward it well and steward it to the people in need of it. ” Some of his priorities and goals include trying to bring a grocery store to the south side of the city and to advocate for gyms, public swimming pools and youth programs to be implemented. Leake is determined to leave his mark in the community, and he is doing so with the help and support of friends and community members along the way. “Someone like him, with his stature, it puts eyes on a city like this that needs eyes put on us,” Binder said. But when Leake gets up on the stage or begins to write his next piece, he never forgets his best friend who gave him the spark he needed to get his passion going. “I keep him in my heart every time I do spoken word,” Leake said. .